


Doctor My Eyes

by sergeant_angel



Series: A Head Full of Doubt/A Road Full of Promise [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk (2008), Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Culver University, before being a SHIELD agent was cool and also before it was terrible!, don't expect it to make a lot of sense, how do i hate thaddeus ross let me count the ways, kate bishop goes to college, look this is pretty much stream of consciousness, nonlinear storytelling, seriously please just go in with low expectations, young avengers as SHIELD agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 07:22:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14786015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sergeant_angel/pseuds/sergeant_angel
Summary: A snapshot of the role the Young Avengers played in keeping Bruce Banner off of General Ross' radar, and the beginnings of an epic hatred for Thunderbolt Ross.Or, a prelude to an MCU/comic crossover





	Doctor My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> if you follow me on tumblr (you should! I'm cool!) you may have noticed a Surplus of Feelings about Betty Ross as I watched the Incredible Hulk for the first time in...years. I felt this might be a good time to clarify some things with regards to Riptide, particularly why the YA are protective of Banner, and a slightly more detailed look at why they hate Ross quite so much.

Nick Fury looked at Eli. Looked him right in the eye and told Eli to use his best judgement as they were loaned out to General Thaddeus Ross on a semipermanent basis. 

("They took all of his research off of the web. That's an asshole move." Teddy declares.)

It had been David who found all the information they  _hadn't_ been given, who found footage of the original experiment and all the times after that when Banner had turned into a giant green guy.

("He's been on the lam for  _how long_?" Tommy asks. "That's impressive.")

It had been Kate who questioned General Ross' motivations in not telling his  _daughter_ what she was actually working on.

("Ross never told any of them what he was working on. Look at this data!" Eli jabs his finger at a series of formulas. "Look at it!")

It had been Cassie who reminded them that she could get Big, that Teddy could  _fly_ , that gave them the confidence to know they could protect themselves against Banner.

But it had been Eli who made the final call. 

Kate and America track Banner down in Guatemala, find him begging. They give him a sandwich and some change, and they watch him.

(They see a man who is kind. He shares half the damn sandwich with the kid next to him.)

"I like him," Cassie says. "He's cute."

"Ugh, gross," Kate steals a slice of Cassie's pizza. "He's like,  _old_."

("Ross is on record saying he thinks Banner's entire body is property of the US Government. Is it just me or is that super disturbing?" Cassie asks.

Kate and Eli share a glance. "It's not just you.")

Eli doesn't like Ross' attitude. Doesn't like the casual way Ross stopped thinking about people as  _people_ , started thinking about them as property or as weapons. 

Doesn't like the lies. 

(Did Banner make the serum? Or does Eli have something else, something someone else made? How many iterations of supersoldiers will they try before they realize they aren't ever going to get it  _right_?)

Kate spends a semester at Culver, sweet talks her way into being a TA for Dr. Betty Ross. No one knows how Kate manages this, since it's only her second semester, but they know better than to ask. 

("I'm going to marry Betty Ross," Kate says dreamily.

"Isn't she engaged?")

Kate is there when Banner returns to Culver. When Banner stops being an idea, a myth they helped create, and becomes a terrifying reality. 

"He's attacking the tanks!" Kate says, voice frantic over the phone. "I mean, they're coming to haul him in to probably kill him, I can't say that I'd do anything different, but  _what am I supposed to do_?"

"Fall back and be prepared to offer assistance," Eli advises.

"To who?"

"I think it's  _whom_."

She listens, though. 

(Can Eli ask them to do this? His friends, his team? To circumvent the military for one man and a principle?

It turns out, he doesn't have to.)

"I think General Ross would have torn up the entire campus to get Banner," Kate says, later. "There were tanks at my  _school_  and air support! There were civilians there! They had sonic  _bullshit_ weapons, like, what.  _What_."

Eli feeds her pizza until she feels good enough to say "also, I saw Dr. Ross stand in front of a moving tank today. I think she and I will have an autumn wedding."

(They look at Bruce Banner, and they see their future. A future running, a future with the looming threat of imprisonment, of testing, of being pulled apart to see what makes them tick.)

"What if it was us? What if it was one of us?" Eli asks. "What would we want someone to do?"

(Help. They'd want someone to help.)

So they track down Hulk sightings and follow leads. They make up spottings—they have a Hulk of their own. 

They help him when they can, if they can without drawing more attention to him—wrongly addressed packages, dropped wallets. Kate and Tommy run into him in Hyderabad, Tommy in Nedong, Eli in Shenzen. 

(if no one's going to stop the military from using humans as unwitting guinea pigs from the inside, well. They'll just have to do it from the outside.)


End file.
